VH,  5 

HW 


No.  45 

'1\ 


Examples  of  Project-Problem 
Instruction 


A JOURNAL  PUBLISHED  BY 
KANSAS  STATE  NORMAL  SCHOOL 
AT  EMPORIA,  KANSAS 


7-5625 


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Published'  every  month  by  the  Kansas  State  Normal  School  at  Emporia,  representing 
the  official  and  professional  interests  of  the  School. 

Sent  free  of  charge,  on  request,  to  any  teacher,  editor,  public  official,  alumnus,  or 
eitizen. 

Entered  as  second-class  matter  at  the  Emporia  post  office  under  the  act  of  August 
24,  1912. 

Address  communications  to  Teaching,  State  Normal  School,  Emporia,  Kan. 


Thos.  W.  Butcher, 

President  of  the  Kansas  State  Normal  School. 

H.  E.  Birdsong,  Editor. 

EDITORIAL  COMMITTEE. 

Oa*l  W.  Salser,  Director  Extension  Division.  E.  R.  Barrett,  Professor  of  English. 
Willis  H.  Kerr,  Librarian.  H.  E.  Birdsong,  Instructor  in  English. 


Vol.  IV,  No.  5.  February,  1919.  Whole  No.  45. 


CONTENTS. 

Examples  of  Project-problem  Instruction. 


Editorial : page 

Better  Educational  Opportunities  3 

The  Educational  Bill,  S.  4987  4 

J.  W.  Crabtree. 

What  are  Projects  and  Problems?  7 

H.  Gr.  Lull. 

Project-problem  Instruction  in  Eighth-grade  Geography 11 

Miss  Jennie  Williams. 

Eighth-grade  English  15 

J.  H.  Wilson. 

Project-problem  Instruction  in  Arithmetic  18 

Miss  Avice  Wright. 

Project-problem  Instruction  in  Elementary  Science 21 

Miss  Florence  Billig. 


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EDITORIAL. 


BETTER  EDUCATIONAL  OPPORTUNITIES. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  educational  bill  now  be- 
fore the  Congress  of  the  United  States  promises  more  for 
education  than  any  one  thing  or  half  dozen  things  that  have 
been  done  for  education  in  the  last  decade.  The  bill  proposes 
to  place  in  the  hands  of  a federal  commission  $100,000,000  to 
be  used  for  the  promotion  of  education  among  the  states,  fol- 
lowing, in  a general  way,  the  plan  of  the  Smith-Hughes  bill. 
The  state  would  have  to  equal  the  amount  of  federal  funds 
apportioned  to  it.  Illiteracy,  the  Americanization  of  for- 
eigners, the  equalization  of  educational  opportunity  with  par- 
ticular reference  to  rural  and  village  schools,  health,  prepara- 
tion of  teachers,  and  a department  of  education  in  the  Presi- 
dent’s cabinet  are  all  included  in  the  bill. 

As  everyone  knows,  our  present  educational  system  is 
dependent  wholly  upon  the  ideals,  the  wealth  and  the  pride 
of  the  local  state  or  community.  The  result  is  that  children 
who  are  unfortunate  enough  to  be  born  where  wealth  or  proper 
educational  ideals  are  lacking  are  not  given  an  equal  oppor- 
tunity with  children  born  in  more  favored  communities.  And 
yet  they  are  all  American  children.  This  bill  proposes  to  make 
real  in  a very  concrete  sense  our  sacred  declaration  concern- 
ing the  equality  of  opportunity.  Aside  from  a square  deal  for 
every  child,  we  have  come  to  know  that  most  children  do  not 
live  permanently  in  the  communities  where  they  are  educated. 
In  other  words,  a state  or  community  having  proper  standards 
of  citizenship  may  be  invaded  by  the  products  of  a system  of 
schools  in  a state  where  proper  ideals  of  citizenship  are 
wanting. 

Under  a federal  system  of  education,  such  as  this  bill  pro- 
poses, it  would  be  possible  to  give  all  of  the  children  of  Amer- 
ica the  same  instruction  along  the  lines  of  citizenship.  We 
could  establish  universally  our  National  ideals.  When  Uncle 
Sam  brought  together  his  big  army  he  found  among  the  men 
twenty-one  to  thirty-one  years  of  age  700,000  who  could  not 
read  or  write.  A few  years  under  the  operation  of  this  pro- 
posed law  would  make  such  a condition  impossible.  This 


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measure  seeks  to  drive  out  illiteracy  from  among  our  own  peo- 
ple ; it  seeks  to  make  a good  citizen  of  every  child ; it  seeks  to 
Americanize  the  vast  number  of  foreigners  who  are  already 
among  us  and  those  who  are  yet  to  come. 

Every  teacher  and  every  man  and  woman  interested  in  the 
development  of  American  institutions  and  American  ideals 
should  get  behind  this  bill. — Thos.  W.  Butcher. 


Federal  Assistance  to  Education  in  the  Several  States. 

The  Educational  Bill,  S.  4987. 

J.  W.  Crabtree,  Secretary  National  Education  Association. 

INTRODUCTION. 

On  October  10,  1918,  Senator  Hoke  Smith,  of  Georgia,  introduced  into 
the  United  States  senate  the  most  comprehensive  and  important  educa- 
tional measure  that  has  ever  been  put  before  Congress.  The  bill  provides 
for  an  annual  appropriation  of  $100,000,000,  provided  that  sums  in  equal 
amount  be  appropriated  by  the  several  states,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding 
the  states  to  carry  on  more  successfully  certain  types  of  education  which 
most  vitally  concern  our  national  welfare.  The  main  provisions  of  the 
bill  (S.  4987)  are  as  follows: 

1.  For  the  removal  of  illiteracy,  $7,500,000  anually. 

2.  For  the  Americanization  of  foreigners,  $7,500,000  annually. 

3.  For  the  equalization  of  educational  opportunities  within  the  several 
states,  particularly  in  rural  and  village  schools,  $50,000,000  annually. 

4.  To  cooperate  with  the  states  in  the  promotion  of  physical  and 
health  education  and  recreation,  $20,000,000  annually. 

5.  To  extend  and  improve  the  facilities  for  the  preparation  of  teach- 
ers for  public  schools,  and  particularly  the  rural  schools,  $15,000,000 
annually. 

6.  The  creation  of  an  executive  department  known  as  the  Department 
of  Education,  with  a secretary  in  the  President’s  cabinet.  This  depart- 
ment is  to  administer  the  educational  work  of  the  government  which  is 
assigned  to  it. 

The  reasons  supporting  the  bill,  the  facts  which  lie  back  of  it,  and  the 
beneficial  results  that  would  follow  its  adoption  are  not  written  into  the 
bill  itself.  This  series  of  explanatory  articles  is  written  for  those  who 
want  the  facts  that  support  the  bill,  and  for  those  who  are  so  keenly  in- 
terested in  education  as  related  to  social  welfare  as  to  desire  the  facts 
that  led  up  to  the  preparation  and  introduction  of  this  bill. 

THE  REMOVAL  OF  ILLITERACY. 

The  first  selective  draft  showed  that  there  were  700,000  illiterates 
between  21  and  31  years  of  age  in  this  country.  That  fact  stunned  us, 
but  there  was  nothing  new  in  it.  Kansas  had,  in  1910,  14,813  such 
illiterates.  The  congressional  allotment  would  be  $29,537.12  annually. 


This  would  have  to  be  equaled  by  the  state,  and  there  would  then  be 
available  $59,074.24  each  year,  or  almost  $4  for  each  illiterate. 

If  the  state  should  start  a ten-year  program  for  the  removal  of 
illiteracy,  and  if  it  should  each  year  teach  one-tenth  of  its  illiterates, 
there  would  be  available  $40  to  teach  each  illiterate  to  read  and  write. 
This  plan  would  eliminate  illiteracy  from  the  state  within  ten  years. 

THE  AMERICANIZATION  OF  IMMIGRANTS. 

Kansas  has  135,450  immigrants,  according  to  the  census  of  1910.  The 
congressional  allotment  would  amount  to  $75,174.75.  The  amount  avail- 
able for  Americanization  work  in  the  state  would  be  $150,349.50 
annually. 

The  reasons  why  the  nation  should  cooperate  with  the  states  in  an 
Americanization  program  are: 

1.  Foreigners  are  admitted  to  the  country  under  national  law. 

2.  They  are  privileged  to  participate  freely  in  a democratic  govern- 
ment. 

3.  Their  contribution  to  national  welfare  is  in  proportion  to  the 
training  in  Americanization  afforded  them. 

4.  The  permanency  of  a competent  democracy  rests  on  the  intelli- 
gence and  patriotism  of  its  citizenry. 

THE  EQUALIZATION  OF  EDUCATIONAL  OPPORTUNITIES 
WITHIN  THE  STATE. 

The  bill  before  Congress  provides  $50,000,000  annually,  “for  the  im- 
provement of  public  schools  of  less  than  college  grade,  with  the  definite 
aim  of  extending  school  terms  and  of  stimulating  state  and  local  interest 
in  improving,  through  better  instruction  and  gradation  and  through  con- 
solidation and  supervision,  the  rural  schools  and  the  schools  in  sparsely 
settled  localities.’'  An  equal  amount  by  the  states  would  provide  $100,- 
000,000  annually.  The  fund  is  to  be  distributed  on  the  per  teacher  basis, 
and  amounts  to  $80.34  for  each  public  school  teacher  employed. 

Kansas  has  15,243  teachers  and  would  receive  from  Congress  $1,224,- 
622.62.  An  equal  amount  by  the  state  for  these  purposes  would  make 
available  $2,449,245.24  for  the  purposes  mentioned  in  the  bill. 

The  bill  provides  that  no  state  shall  share  in  this  fund  unless  it  has  at 
least  twenty-four  weeks  of  school  in  each  district,  unless  it  enforces  an 
adequate  compulsory  school  attendance  law,  and  unless  it  provides  that 
“the  basis  language  of  instruction  in  the  common  school  branches  in  all 
schools,  public  and  private,  shall  be  the  English  language  only.” 
PHYSICAL  AND  HEALTH  EDUCATION. 

The  bill  now  in  the  senate  provides  $20,000,000  annually  by  Congress 
“to  cooperate  with  the  states  in  the  promotion  of  physical  and  health  edu- 
cation and  recreation,”  including  “the  medical  and  dental  examination  of 
children  of  school  age,  the  determination  of  mental  and  physical  defects 
in  such  children,  the  employment  of  school  nurses,  the  establishment  and 
maintenance  of  school  dental  clinics,  and  the  instruction  of  the  people  in 
the  principles  of  health  and  sanitation.” 

The  states  are  to  be  allotted  shares  of  the  appropriation  on  the  basis  of 
total  population  according  to  the  last  census.  This  provides  a federal 


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appropriation  of  21%  cents  for  each  person  and  requires  an  equal  amount 
from  the  state,  making  a total  of  43  % cents  for  each  person.  This  is  a 
small  per  capita  amount,  but  for  each  state  there  is  a substantial  sum. 

Kansas’  population  in  1910  was  1,690,949.  She  would  therefore  receive 
from  Congress  for  physical  and  health  education  $367,781.41  annually. 
An  equal  amount  would  make  available  $735,562.82  annually. 

The  war  has  made  us  newly  conscious  of  the  number  physically  unfit 
for  military  service.  Under  the  first  selective  draft,  730,756  men  were 
rejected  for  physical  reasons  after  examination.  This  is  29  percent  of 
the  total  number  actually  examined  by  local  boards.  Thousands  of  these 
persons  are  made  fit  by  proper  treatment.  The  economic  loss  due  to 
preventable  illness  is  not  less  than  10  percent  of  our  total  present  produc- 
tion. When  one  considers  the  loss  of  productive  power  due  to  remediable 
defects  and  to  ill  health  that  might  easily  have  been  avoided,  he  is  con- 
vinced that  the  sensible  thing  is  for  the  nation  and  the  states  to  cooperate 
in  an  educational  program  that  will  avoid  this  economic  loss,  and  at  the 
same  time  give  to  people  healthy  and  therefore  happy  and  efficient  bodies. 

THE  PREPARATION  OF  TEACHERS. 

The  bill  now  before  Congress  provides  $15,000,000  annually,  and  de- 
mands an  equal  amount  by  the  states,  “to  cooperate  with  the  states  in 
preparing  teachers  for  the  schools,  particularly  rural  schools”— “to  pre- 
pare teachers,  to  encourage  a more  nearly  universal  preparation  of  pro- 
spective teachers,  to  extend  the  facilities  for  the  improvement  of  teachers 
already  in  service,  to  encourage  through  the  establishment  of  scholar- 
ships and  otherwise  a greater  number  of  talented  young  people  to  make 
adequate  preparation  for  public-school  service,  and  otherwise  to  provide 
an  increased  number  of  trained  and  competent  teachers.”  This  money 
is  to  be  apportioned  on  the  public  school  teacher  basis,  and  amounts  to 
$24.10  per  teacher  for  the  promotion  of  teacher  preparation. 

Kansas  had  15,243  public  school  teachers  in  1915-1916.  She  would 
receive  $367,356.30  for  the  purposes  named  above.  Doubling  this  amount 
would  make  available  a minimum  of  $734,712.60  for  teacher  preparation 
in  her  tax-supported  normal  schools  and  colleges. 

A NATIONAL  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION — SUMMARY. 

The  administration  of  the  funds  appropriated  by  S.  4987  involves  not 
only  clerical  work,  but  also  judgment,  discretion,  and  executive  capacity. 
It  ought  to  be  carried  forward  in  a manner  befitting  the  nation's  interest 
in  these  types  of  education.  For  these  reasons,  the  bill  provides  for  the 
creation  of  an  executive  department  of  the  government,  to  be  known  as 
the  Department  of  Education,  with  a secretary  in  the  President’s  cabinet. 
The  bill  also  provides  for  three  assistant  secretaries,  for  the  transfer  of 
the  Bureau  of  Education  to  the  Department  of  Education,  for  the  transfer 
cf  other  educational  work  of  the  government  to  the  Department  of  Educa- 
tion by  Congress  or  by  the  President,  defines  the  duties  and  powers  of  the 
secretary,  and  provides  funds  for  the  expenses  of  the  department. 

The  bill  further  provides  for  the  designation  or  creation  by  the  state 
legislatures  of  the  machinery  necessary  within  each  state  for  the  coopera- 
tive administration  of  the  provisions  of  the  bill,  and  sets  up  certain 
necessary  safeguards,  such  as  systems  of  accounting  and  auditing. 


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A summary  of  the  appropriations  provided  in  this  bill  for  Kansas: 


1.  For  the  removal  of  illiteracy $29,537.12 

2.  For  the  Americanization  of  immigrants . 75,174.75 

3.  For  equalizing  educational  opportunities 1,224,622.62 

4.  For  physical  and  health  education 367,781.41 

5.  For  better  and  more  teacher-preparation 367,356.30 


Total  $2,064,472.20 


Every  one  of  these  types  of  education  is  of  national  concern,  and  the 
wealth  of  the  nation  will  be  taxed  to  raise  the  $100,000,000  which  will  be 
distributed  on  the  bases  indicated.  Every  citizen  ought  to  become  active 
in  support  of  the  bill,  for  it  is  the  most  important  educational  measure 
ever  considered  by  Congress. 


What  are  Projects  and  Problems?1 

H.  G.  Lull,  Director  of  Teacher  Training,  Kansas  State  Normal  School. 

A pupil  may  be  said  to  have  worked  out  a project  when  he  has  con- 
sciously set  up  a purpose,  has  made  plans  to  accomplish  his  purpose,  has 
executed  his  plans,  and  has  finally  measured  the  results  of  his  work 
by  comparing  them  with  his  purpose  and  plans. 

A problem  arises  when  a perplexing  difficulty  intercepts  the  path  lead- 
ing from  the  pupil’s  felt  need  to  the  realization  thereof.  Alternative 
suggestions  arise  as  to  whether  one  means  or  another  shall  be  chosen  to 
remove  the  difficulty.  Finally,  at  least,  a tentative  choice  is  made  of  a 
certain  line  of  procedure  or  of  a certain  end  to  be  attained,  and  then 
the  work  proceeds  on  the  basis  of  this  choice  until  the  difficulty  is  removed, 
unless  it  is  seen  to  be  leading  the  wrong  way,  in  which  case  new  observa- 
tions are  taken,  and  another  choice  and  a new  trial  are  made  to  overcome 
the  difficulty.  This  process  is  continued  until  success  is  reached.  The 
problem,  as  distinguished  from  the  project,  is  more  a matter  of  explana- 
tion or  interpretation,  involving  analysis,  while  the  project  is  in  the  main 
a matter  of  planning  to  do  something  and  doing  it. 

A problem  may  arise  as  a special  case  of  a project,  when  the  difficulty 
is  connected  with  the  location  or  definition  of  the  purpose  of  the  project. 
Or  a problem  may  arise  in  the  process  of  working  out  the  project,  when 
the  difficulty  is  connected  with  the  question  whether  one  means  or  another 
shall  be  chosen  to  realize  the  purpose  of  the  project.  Or,  again,  a problem 
may  arise  independently  of  the  project,  when,  for  various  reasons,  the 
pupil  may  be  thrown  into  a problematical  situation,  which  has  no  connec- 
tion with  the  purposing,  the  planning  or  the  working  out  of  a project. 
On  the  other  hand,  scfme  projects  involve  no  perplexing  difficulties  which 
can  properly  be  called  problems.  Ordinarily,  however,  problems  arise 
much  more  frequently  in  connection  with  the  origin  and  development  of 
projects  than  otherwise.  In  the  main,  therefore,  projects  and  problems 
are  so  closely  associated  in  instruction  that  we  may  express  their  relation- 
ship by  using  the  term,  “project-problem  instruction.” 

1.  The  theory  and  the  schoolroom  procedures  of  project-problem  instruction  are  dis- 
cussed more  elaborately  by  the  writer  in  two  articles  published  elsewhere:  “Socializing 
School  Procedure,”  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  to  be  published  in  March,  1919; 
“Project-problem  Instruction,”  School  and  House  Education,  December,  1918. 


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PROCEDURES  IN  PROJECT-PROBLEM  INSTRUCTION. 

The  Relation  of  Recitation  to  Study.  If  the  recitation  and  the  study 
of  a lesson  occur  on  the  same  day,  the  recitation  should  precede  the  study. 
Among  other  activities  of  the  recitation,  the  planning  and  stating  of 
projects,  and  the  anticipation  of  problems  which  may  occur  in  the  process 
of  working  out  the  project,  are  important  matters.  During  the  study 
period  the  pupils  work  individually,  or  occasionally  in  groups  of  two  or 
three,  upon  the  projects  or  problems  which  have  been  planned  and  stated 
in  the  recitation.  The  general  outline  of  the  project  is  usually  con- 
structed by  the  members  of  the  class  working  together  in  recitation, 
while  the  various  problems  or  points  arising  in  connection  with  the 
project  are  usually  worked  out  by  individual  pupils  in  the  study  period. 
Many  times,  of  course,  it  is  advisable  to  have  more  than  one  pupil,  or 
even  the  whole  class,  work  on  one  problem  or  point  in  a study  period. 
But  in  the  study  period  they  should  work  as  individuals  and  not  as  a 
group. 

The  amount  of  time  allotted  to  each  subject  on  the  program  should  not 
be  arbitrarily  divided  between  recitation  and  study.  Suppose,  for  ex- 
ample, that  three  fifty-minute  periods  a week  are  given  to  geography  in 
a sixth  grade.  If  the  class  is  originating  and  planning  a project  which 
will  require  more  than  one  fifty-minute  period  to  advance  it  to  the  point 
where  supervised  study  may  be  profitably  carried  on,  then  another  period, 
or  even  two  or  three  periods,  should  be  used  for  recitation  if  necessary 
before  supervised  study  begins.  In  general  the  pupils  should  work  in  the 
recitation  until  they  are  ready  to  study,  and  they  should  study  until 
they  are  ready  to  recite. 

Pupil  Activities  in  the  Recitation.  The  pupils  work  as  a socially 
organized  group.  At  one  time  they  are  planning  and  outlining  the  project. 
Sometimes  they  are  raising  and  stating  problems  which  arise  in  connec- 
tion with  the  work  on  the  project,  or  independently  of  the  project. 
Again  they  are  dividing  among  themselves  the  work  of  the  project  which 
is  to  be  done  in  the  study  period. 

After  considerable  work  has  been  done  upon  the  project  or  problems, 
the  pupils  return  to  another  recitation  to  report  the  results  of  their  study 
to  their  classmates.  While  a pupil  is  reporting  the  others  are  listening 
attentively,  taking  notes  on  the  report  and  asking  questions  about  matters 
which  are  not  clear  to  them.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  report  the  pupils 
give  criticisms  intended  to  complete  the  development  of  the  problem  or 
part  of  the  project  and  to  help  the  one  reporting.  When  all  reports  of 
problems  or  parts  of  the  project  have  been  given,  the  work  of  summa- 
rizing and  drawing  conclusions  begins. 

The  pupil  who  has  proven  himself  strong  in  the  work  is  usually  made 
the  leader  by  the  class  for  the  task  of  summarizing  and  drawing  conclu- 
sions. Out  of  more  or  less  informal  discussion  of  the  points  brought  for- 
ward by  the  individual  members  of  the  class,  a revised  outline  of  the 
project  is  made  and  conclusions  are  drawn. 

Pupil  Activities  in  the  Supervised  Study  Period.  It  is  very  important 
that  pupils  should  be  free  to  move  about  the  room  to  find  materials,  to 
use  the  dictionary,  encyclopedia,  reference  books,  etc.  All  distracting 


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conditions  which  prevent  successful  study  should  be  eliminated,  such  as 
confusion  in  using  materials,  loud  talking  by  both  pupils  and  teacher, 
conversation  about  matters  not  connected  with  the  study,  the  conducting 
of  a recitation  of  another  class  in  the  room,  or  the  teacher  speaking  to  the 
whole  class  at  once. 

Pupils  should  work  individually,  or  possibly  in  pairs'.  They  should  be 
working  on  problems  or  parts  of  a project  which  were  stated  and  assigned 
to  them  or  chosen  by  them  in  the  recitation.  Each  pupil  should  write 
down  his  part  of  the  project  or  problem,  construct  a tentative  outline  with 
which  to  guide  his  reading  or  observation,  and  proceed  to  think  it  through 
before  reading  or  gathering  information  about  it.  After  he  has  made 
his  tentative  study  outline  he  should  investigate  its  validity  by  reading 
from  available  sources  of  information,  or  by  observing,  or  by  performing 
certain  experiments  to  prove  or  disprove  what  he  has  outlined  and  to  find 
out  what  other  facts  are  needed  to  complete  his  report.  As  he  reads  or 
observes  or  experiments,  he  should  revise  his  original  outline  and  finally 
prepare  his  report  for  the  class. 

Teacher  Activities  in  the  Recitation.  The  teacher’s  function  in  the 
recitation  is  (1)  that  of  a stimulator,  and  (2)  that  of  an  umpire.  She 
stimulates  the  class  to  originate  and  plan  projects,  to  raise  and  state 
problems,  which  may  or  may  not  be  related  to  a project.  She  leads  them 
to  compare  their  results  with  their  original  plan,  to  become  efficient  critics 
of  their  own  work,  to  organize  their  work  and  make  new  investigations, 
to  realize  their  needs  for  skill  and  technique  which  are  required  in  work- 
ing out  a project  or  a problem,  and,  through  all  of  their  work,  to  realize 
the  maximum  purposeful  activity  of  which  they  are  capable. 

No  specific  methods  guiding  the  teacher’s  work  as  a stimulator  can  be 
laid  down.  In  general  she  should  stimulate  the  pupils  by  using  thought- 
provoking  questions  at  the  right  time  and  at  the  right  place,  and  by  drop- 
ping suggestions  occasionally  when  they  are  needed.  However,  while  the 
group  phase  of  the  recitation  isi  going  on  she  should  use  questions  and 
suggestive  statements  sparingly.  She  should  pass  her  leadership  over  to 
the  pupils  by  refusing  to  do  anything  which  tfcie  pupils  can  profitably  do. 

As  the  pupils  acquire  experience  in  project  work  they  will  gradually 
evolve  and  formulate  methods  of  procedure.  Then  the  teacher  becomes 
more  and  more  like  an  umpire  of  a game  instead  of  a captain.  The  pupils 
will  appeal  to  her  frequently,  but  she  should  render  a decision  only  after 
they  have  thoughtfully  tried  to  overcome  the  difficulty  in  the  project  or 
problem. 

The  teacher  should  use  the  minimum  number  of  words  necessary  to  do 
her  part  effectively,  and  she  should  keep  herself  out  of  the  pupils’  group 
as  much  as  possible,  and  yet  make  her  standards  effective.  Much  of  the 
time  her  position  should  be  that  of  an  inspector.  She  should  retire  to  the 
rear  of  the  room,  where  she  can  oversee  the  work  and  be  as  inconspicuous 
as  possible.  At  times,  however,  she  should  take  charge  of  the  class  and 
exercise  the  greatest  activity  in  directing  their  work,  but  this  should  be 
done  in  order  that  the  pupils  may  in  turn  assume  their  own  group  direc- 
tion successfully. 

Teacher  Activities  in  the  Supervised  Study  Period.  The  teacher  should 
stimulate  successful  study  activity  by  the  pupils  rather  than  act  as  an 


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authority  or  as  a general  source  of  information.  She  should  provide  the 
pupils'  with  facilities,  materials  and  sources  of  information  with  which  to 
work.  She  should  stimulate  the  pupils  to  think  accurately  in  constructing 
the  tentative  outlines  of  their  problems,  or  their  parts  of  the  project 
which  they  have  undertaken  to  work  up  for  the  class,  by  asking  individual 
pupils  such  questions  as  the  following:  “What  bearing  has  step  ‘4’  upon 
the  problem?”  “What  is  the  relation  of  point  ‘5’  to  point  ‘6’?”  etc.  When 
a pupil  has  finished  his  tentative  outline  she  should  stimulate  him  to 
gather  carefully  the  information  required  by  his  outline  by  asking  such 
questions  as  the  following:  “With  what  facts  do  you  support  this  point?” 
“From  what  facts  do  you  draw  this  conclusion?”  “Where  would  you 
be  likely  to  find  reliable  information  on  this  point?”  etc. 

The  teacher  should  stimulate  the  pupils  to  do  good  work  in  the  study 
period,  but  she  should  not  do  the  work  for  them.  Before  the  pupils  recite 
again  she  should  know  accurately  what  each  one  has  accomplished  in 
the  study  period,  in  order  that  the  recitation  may  be  something  other 
than  an  information  quizzing  performance. 

Facilities  for  Project-problem  Instruction.  The  nature  of  the. project 
•or  problem  determines  the  direction  of  the  reading,  observation  or  ex- 
perimentation to  be  done.  Textbooks  are  inadequate  sources  of  infor- 
mation. While  the  teacher  should  determine  in  general  the  kind  and 
the  scope  of  the  projects  which  may  arise  in  her  classes,  she  cannot 
profitably  limit  the  pupils’  sources  of  information  to  the  ordinary  supply 
of  textbooks,  reference  and  supplementary  books  of  the  average  school. 

An  accessible  library  becomes  very  important.  Books  and  reading 
materials  may  be  either  requisitioned  and  taken  from  the  library  to  the 
schoolrooms  or  the  pupils  may  be  sent  to  the  library  for  supervised 
study.  The  latter  plan  is  preferable,  (1)  because  it  is  impossible  to 
know  in  advance  just  what  courses  will  be  needed,  and  (2)  because 
books  kept  in  the  library  are  accessible  to  more  pupils. 

If  pupils  are  sent  to  the  library  a librarian  should  supervise  their 
study  in  exactly  the  same  way  as  the  regular  classroom  teacher  does. 
The  pupils  should  go  to  hpr  with  the  class  project  stated  and  outlined, 
and  also  each  pupil  should  go  with  his  part  of  the  project  or  problem 
stated  and  tentatively  outlined.  The  librarian  should  teach  the  pupils  to 
find  the  required  information.  She  should  be  a successful  stimulator  of 
activity  and  she  should  see  that  the  pupils  grow  more  independent  in 
finding  and  using  library  materials. 

EXAMPLES. 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  secure  records  of  projects  and  problems 
worked  out  as  completely  as  the  theory  of  the  ideal  project  and  of  the 
ideal  problem  requires.  Some  records  lack  in  the  failure  to  draw  con- 
clusions; some  in  the  failure  to  compare  conclusions  with  the  original 
plans;  some  lack  in  individual  activity  and  others  in  class  activity.  On 
the  whole,  however,  the  following  examples  of  project-problem  work 
show  individual  initiative,  group  cooperation,  and  systematic  and  sus- 
tained, purposeful  activity. 

Moreover,  the  limitations  of  space  in  a treatment  of  this  kind  make 
it  impracticable  to  give  in  detail  the  class  discussions  by  which  the 


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various  points,  problems  and  conclusions  were  developed.  It  is  also 
impracticable  to  record  the  various  preliminary  outlines  and  studies, 
many  parts  of  which  were  necessarily  discarded  because  they  had  no 
value  in  the  final  organization  of  the  project,  or  of  the  problem,  although 
they  may  have  been  extremely  valuable  as  groundwork  for  their  solu- 
tion. Only  the  final  drafts  stripped  of  unnecessary  details  are  given. 

The  examples  show  a variety  of  procedures.  Some  of  the  projects 
were  initiated  and  worked  out  by  the  class  as  a whole;  some  were 
originated  and  worked  out  by  individuals  and  reported  by  them  to  the 
class,  while  others  were  originated  and  worked  out  by  the  pupils  both 
individually  and  in  class  groups. 

During  the  past  year  project-problem  instruction  has  been  carried 
on  successfully  from  the  fourth  to  the  ninth  grade,  intermediate  and 
junior  high-school  grades  of  the  training  schools  of  the  Kansas  State 
Normal  School  at  Emporia.  The  following  projects  and  problems  have 
been  selected  from  among  those  worked  out  by  the  sixth,  seventh  and 
eighth  grades. 

While  the  eighth-grade  geography  class  was  studying  the  dominating 
trade  centers  of  the  United  States,  the  following  project  originated  with 
one  of  the  pupils.  It  appealed  to  the  class  as  being  worthy  of  their 
study,  and  accordingly  it  was  adopted  as  a class  project.  The  members 
of  the  class  working  together  in  the  recitation  period  made  a tentative 
outline  of  the  points  required  in  planning  the  project.  Then  followed 
reading  on  the  outline  by  members  of  the  class  in  the  supervised  study 
period.  When  the  class  met  again  for  recitation  the  outline  was  re- 
vised. Then  followed  in  the  next  study  period  an  investigation  of  the 
jnarious  points  of  the  revised  outline  by  different  members  of  the  class. 
U/he  following  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  work  of  the  pupils. 

PROJECT-PROBLEM  INSTRUCTION  IN  EIGHTH-GRADE 
GEOGRAPHY. 

Miss  Jennie  Williams,  Supervisor  of  Geography. 

Project:  “To  show  why  the  trade  of  New  York  is  greater  than  that  of 
San  Francisco.” 

1.  Things  we  need  to  know  before  solving  our  problem. 

(1)  Value  of  trade  in  tons  and  money. 

(2)  The  location  of  the  two  cities. 

(3)  The  kinds  of  harbors. 

(4)  Position. 

(5)  Good  railways. 

(6)  Transportation  on  water. 

(7)  Articles  of  trade. 

Revised  outline. 

1.  The  value  of  trade  in  money  and  quantity  of  trade  in  tons. 

2.  Description  of  the  two  harbors. 

3.  Position  of  the  two  cities  with  reference  to  our  country;  to 

foreign  countries. 

4.  Articles  of  trade. 


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Original  Outline. — Marley  Thompson. 

2.  “Description  of  the  two  harbors.” 

New  York. 

(a)  Average  depth  of  New  York  harbor  is  50  feet. 

(b)  Deepest  place  is  67  feet. 

(c)  Shallowest  place  is  18  feet. 

(d)  No  sandbars. 

San  Francisco. 

(a)  Average  depth  of  San  Franscisco's  harbor  is  30  feet. 

(b)  Deepest  place  is  126  feet. 

(c)  Shallowest  place  is  2 feet. 

(d)  Quite  a number  of  sandbars. 

Rules  for  good  harbor. 

1.  Vessels  should  have  30  feet  of  water  to  float  with  ease. 

2.  Harbor  should  have  sufficient  area — several  square  miles. 

3.  It  must  be  locked,  so  that  a vessel  can  ride  at  anchor  safely. 

4.  It  must  be  tideless  or  nearly  so. 

5.  The  deep  water  must  extend  to  the  shore. 

Facts  regarding  New  York  harbor. 

1.  Great  piers  have  been  built  on  the  New  Jersey  side  as  well 

as  the  New  York  side  of  the  harbor. 

2.  The  fort  of  New  York  has  450  miles  of  water  front,  of  which 

125  miles  the  largest  steamer  can  navigate. 

After  discussion  and  criticism  by  the  class  the  outline  was  re- 
arranged with  the  main  points  in  the  following  order: 

1.  Rules  for  good  harbor. 

2.  Depth. 

a.  New  York  harbor. 

b.  San  Francisco  harbor. 

3.  Added  facts. 

4.  References : 

a.  World  Geography,  Tarr  and  McMurry,  pages  37  and 

125. 

b.  School  Century,  pages . 

c.  Great  Cities  of  the  United  States,  pages  32  and  230. 

Original  Outline. 

Note. — Because  of  absence  of  the  pupil  to  whom  this  report  was  assigned,  the  class 
worked  it  out  as  a group. 

3.  “Position  of  the  two  cities  with  reference  to  our  country;  to  foreign 

countries.” 

New  York  is  situated  as  a natural  market  for  our  manufacturing 
states  and  cities.  The  port  is  within  short  distance  of  our  oldest  and 
most  densely  settled  region.  It  is  situated  on  the  Atlantic,  toward  which 
all  of  our  trade  has  tended  for  years.  It  is  directly  opposite  the  great 
commercial  countries  of  Europe.  There  is  a direct  waterway  to  South 
American  ports.  The  distance  across  the  Atlantic  is  short. 

San  Francisco  is  situated  a little  south  of  the  middle  of  our  western 
coast.  The  position  is  good  for  trade  with  other  Pacific  states.  How- 
ever, this  city,  up  to  the  present  time,  has  had  difficulty  in  trading  with 


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IB 


European  countries;  the  Panama  canal  has  helped  and  will  help  more. 
San  Francisco  faces  the  Orient.  This  is  a disadvantage,  in  that  the 
Oriental  nations  have  not  been  great  commercial  nations.  The  distance  to 
Oriental  countries  is  much  greater  than  to  Europe. 

References : 

1.  Essentials  of  Geography,  pages  86  and  182. 

2.  World  Geography,  pages  37  and  125. 

3.  Great  Cities  of  the  United  States,  pages  30  and  230. 

Note. — No  revised  outline  was  made  of  the  above  report. 

Original  Outline — John  Robert  Groh. 

4.  “Articles  of  trade.” 

1.  San  Franciso:  San  Francisco  is  the  greatest  city  in  the  United  States 
for  the  shipment  of  wheat.  It  also  ships  cotton,  canned  goods,  oil,  barley, 
prunes,  flour,  dried  fruits,  leather,  machinery,  lumber  and  corn  products. 
The  steamers  coming1  in  are  loaded  with  raw  silk,  coffee,  tea,  copra,  nitrate 
of  soda,  tin,  sugar,  rice,  cigars,  coal,  burlap,  vanilla,  cheese  and  Manila 
hemp.  Copra,  the  main  export  from  Samoa  and  from  many  Pacific 
islands,  is  the  dried  meat  of  cocoanut.  It  is  of  value  for  food  and  for  oil. 

2.  New  York:  The  leading  imports  of  New  York  are:  rubber,  silk 
goods,  furs,  jewelry,  coffee,  tea,  sugar  and  tin.  The  most  important  ex- 
ports are:  cotton,  meats  and  bread  stuffs.  Added  to  my  own  list  corn 
and  manufactured  goods. 

References : 

1.  Great  Cities  of  the  United  States,  pages  32  and  231. 

2.  Essentials  of  Geography,  pages  87,  178  and  180. 

3.  World  Geography,  page  187. 

Note. — The  above  study  was  not  revised,  because  it  had  so  little  value  in  relation  to  the 
main  project. 

Original  Outline — Evelyn  Geeslin. 

5.  “Sources  of  materials  or  territories  supplying  articles.” 

1.  New  York:  New  York  is  located  in  the  midst  of  a great  manufac- 
turing region.  It  gets  material  from  New  England  and  from  the  Great 
Lakes  region.  From  the  Great  Lakes  region  the  materials  are  carried 
through  the  lakes  down  the  canal  to  the  Hudson,  and  also  by  many  rail- 
roads leading  to  New  York.  It  gets  trade  from  almost  all  parts  of  the 
United  States.  It  exports  cotton,  raw  and  manufactured,  to  England. 
New  York  imports  chemicals  and  drugs  of  different  kinds  from  Germany. 
It  also  imports  tin  and  iron  from  Australia;  rubber  and  coffee  from 
Brazil. 

2.  San  Francisco:  San  Francisco  carries  on  slaughtering  and  meat 
packing,  which  are  very  important  industries.  It  also  has  a great  ship- 
building plant.  It  imports  iron.  The  surrounding  country  is  engaged 
in  agriculture.  San  Francisco  is  the  opening  for  the  great  California 
valley.  The  two  principal  rivers  are  San  Juaquin  and  Sacramento. 

References : 

1.  Great  Cities  of  the  United  States,  pages  32,  39,  and  222. 

2.  Tarr  and  McMurry,  page  126. 

3.  Essentials  of  Geography,  pages  87,  89,  175,  179,  180. 

Note. — The  class  added  to  Evelyn  Geeslin’s  report  the  following  facts,  which  are  much 
more  significant  in  relation  to  the  main  project  than  her  report. 


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Cattle  and  their  products  are  shipped  from  beyond  the  Mississippi  to 
New  York;  immense  quantities  of  grain  are  sent  there  from  the  great 
agricultural  states  of  the  Mississippi  valley.  New  York  is  the  chief 
market  place  of  our  country,  because  the  largest  part  of  our  country  is 
connected  with  it  by  railroads  and  waterways. 

San  Francisco  draws  trade  from  a much  smaller  area  in  our  country. 
The  foreign  countries  with  which  she  trades  do  not  demand  things  in 
such  large  quantities. 

Original  Outline. — Edward  Potts. 

6.  “Ease  of  transportation.” 

1.  The  East  is  more  densely  populated  than  the  West. 

2.  This  makes  a great  demand;  hence  greater  transportation. 

3.  Railroads  are  more  easily  laid  than  in  the  West. 

4.  The  civilized  world  is  on  the  East.  America  was  discovered  on 

the  East. 

5.  Four  railroads  run  into  San  Francisco,  as  against  twelve 

running  into  New  York. 

6.  New  York  is  the  financial  center  of  the  United  States. 

7.  The  Erie  canal  connects  New  York  with  the  Great  Lakes  and 

the  St.  Lawrence  river. 

8.  New  York  has  a population  of  5,000,000;  San  Francisco  400,- 

000.  New  York  is  the  first  city  in  size  in  the  United  States; 
second  in  the  world. 

9.  New  York  carries  more  than  half  of  our  foreign  trade  and  leads 

all  cities  in  manufacturing,  and  has  one  of  the  best  harbors 
in  the  world. 

10.  New  York  has  wonderful  underground,  elevated  and  surface 

systems  of  transportation. 

11.  San  Francisco  is  the  eleventh  city  in  size  in  the  United  States 

and  has  one  of  the  finest  harbors  in  the  world ; also  the  chief 
city  for  trade  with  the  Orient,  and  leads  all  cities  of  the 
United  States  in  exportation  of  wheat.  There  are  also  many 
great  canning  factories  in  California. 

References : 

1.  Essentials  of  Geography,  page  87. 

2.  Great  Cities  of  the  United  States,  page  28. 

3.  World  Geography,  page  37. 

Note. — No  revised  study  was  made  of  the  above  report. 

Conclusions. 

After  a thorough  discussion  of  the  foregoing  reports,  made  by  individ- 
ual pupils,  the  class  decided  to  adopt  the  following  points  as  their  conclu- 
sions of  the  project: 

Our  conclusions: 

1.  The  total  trade  of  New  York  is  fifteen  times  that  of  San  Fran- 

cisco in  money  value;  the  tonnage  is  thirteen  times  that  of 
the  latter  city. 

2.  The  average  depth  of  New  York  harbor  is  greater;  its  water 

front  and  area  is  much  larger  than  that  of  San  Francisco, 
and  therefore  can  take  care  of  more  boats  at  once. 


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15 


3.  New  York  is  the  outlet  of  a great  manufacturing  region,  which 

always  means  much  trade.  San  Francisco  is  the  outlet  of  a 
great  agricultural  country. 

4.  San  Francisco  is  not  the  outlet  of  a great  water  route,  while  a 

great  percent  of  New  York’s  trade  comes  by  way  of  the 
Great  Lakes  and  Erie  canal. 

5.  New  York  faces  the  great  commercial  nations  of  Europe,  while 

San  Francisco  faces  the  more  backward  nations  of  the 
Orient. 

6.  New  York  is  the  great  distributing  center  for  our  country. 

7.  The  territory  supplying  New  York  trade  is  many  times  that  of 

San  Francisco;  New  York  draws  trade  from  at  least  three- 
fourths  of.  our  country.  San  Francisco  is  far  from  the  cen- 
ter of  population,  and  the  greater  part  of  her  trade  is  limited 
to  the  country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

EIGHTH  GRADE  ENGLISH. 

J.  H.  Wilson,  Supervisor. 

The  following  record  of  class  work  lacks  a great  deal  in  the  essentials 
of  project  procedure.  The  purpose  of  the  work  was  to  heighten  ap- 
preciation of  the  literary  masterpieces  chosen  for  study.  The  project 
procedure  may  be  debatable  as  a method  of  securing  emotional  ap- 
preciation. 

COMPOSITION  AND  LITERATURE. 

The  eighth  grade,  taking  up  the  study  of  Nathaniel  Hawthorne’s 
writings,  read  “My  First  Visit  to  Niagara”  and  a biographical  sketch  of 
two  or  three  pages.  They  studied  thei  picture  of  Hawthorne,  covering 
certain  features  and  attempting  to  estimate  the  qualities  of  isolated 
features,  eyes,  mouth,  forehead,  nose,  and  chin.  Much  interesting 
speculation  resulted,  which  led  to  a question  of  the  general  nature  of  the 
man.  The  teacher  then  asked  how  that  might  be  best  found  out.  The 
answer  was,  “Through  his  writings.”  Class  discussion  set  the  principles 
of  judgment  down  as  a criterion. 

The  class  became  interested  in  the  following  questions:  Did  Haw- 

thorne have  any  peculiarities  which  were  prominent  in  all  his  writings? 
How  do  you  account  for  them?  How  shall  we  find  the  solution  of  our 
question?  The  answer  was  that  we  should  read  until  we  discovered 
what  seemed  to  us  to  be  the  most  prominent  note  in  the  mood  of  the 
writer.  Next  we  should  hurry  through  the  selection,  noting  the  im- 
portant passages  to  see  if  the  author  maintained  a uniform  attitude 
toward  things,  and  to  see  exactly,  if  possible,  what  influenced  his 
writings. 

Each  child  was  then  given  a different  selection  of  Hawthorne  to  read. 
The  result  was  most  gratifying  and  is  explained  below.  When  we  at- 
tempted to  collect  the  books  in  which  they  were  reading,  they  asked  in 
many  cases  to  keep  them  in  order  to  finish  their  reading. 

The  first  work  of  the  child  was,  of  course,  silent  reading.  His  object 
was  to  discover  the  predominant  mood  of  the  writer,  and  then  to  skip 
about  to  test  his  conclusions.  When  sure  of  his  conclusions  he  was 
asked  to  formulate  a statement  which  most  accurately  pictured  the  mind 


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of  the  author  (topic  sentence).  Next  he  was  asked  to  make  three  or 
four  statements  to  show  what  influenced  his  writings,  what  his  general 
mood  was,  and  how  he  reacted  to  the  things  about  him. 

Each  of  the  sentences  in  this  paragraph  was  taken  then  as  the  topic 
about  which  several  things  were  to  be  said,  and  each  illustrated  by 
quotation  from  the  book.  These  paragraphs  were  then  summed  up  in  a 
final  paragraph,  which  completed  the  theme,  with  no  mention  having 
been  made  of  its  unfolding. 

The  process  was  repeated,  with  the  child  equipped  with  another 
selection  of  the  author’s,  and  later  comparisons  were  made  to  note  the 
changes  which  occur  in  his  different  works. 

The  uniformity  of  their  conclusion!  showed  that  they  had  read  with 
understanding.  No  mention  was  made  in  the  class  of  what  the  different 
members  were  discovering  until  the  whole  process  was  completed. 

Examples  of  themes  on  Poe  which  conform  to  the  same  idea  we  had 
in  studying  Hawthorne  are  attached. 

This  work  was  done  in  one  hour’s  time.  The  first  part  of  the  work 
consisted  of  a five-minute  discussion  in  which  paramount  things  relative 
to  the  nature,  style  and  tendencies  of  an  author’s  writings,  with  specula- 
tion as  to  his  own  character,  were  reviewed  and  brought  out  by  the  class. 
The  questions  to  guide  their  work  were,  briefly:  (1)  a general  state- 

ment as  to  the  nature  of  the  man,  with  several  minor  statements  pertain- 
ning  to  his  style,  which  in  this  case  was  decided  as  being  the  mood,  the 
words  and  the  characters  of  the  story.  (2)  The  next  part  of  the  work 
consisted  of  taking  each  of  these  minor  sentences  separately  and  proving 
the  point  made  in  it  with  quotations  from  the  readings.  (3)  After 
these  paragraphs  had  been  written  they  decided  that  to  complete  the 
paper  a summing-up  statement  of  the  whole  thing  should  be  made. 

EXACT  CONTRIBUTIONS  FROM  THE  ’CLASS. 

The  Fall  of  the  House  of  Usher. 

Daisy  Bramwell. — Judging  from  this  story,  “The  Fall  of  the  House 
of  Usher,”  Poe  is  a silent  and/  mysterious  writer  and  a stern  man.  His 
mood  here  is  mysterious  and  dreamy.  Poe  likes  to  use  a great  many  un- 
usual words  that  have  the  same  meaning  as  smaller  and  more  common 
words.  His  character,  Roderick  Usher,  is  of  an  old  family,  and  he  is  a 
nervous  and  fretful'  man,  who  being  superstitious  and  afraid  of  the  re- 
sults of  the  future,  is  in  an  infirm  state  of  health. 

Poe  is  dreaming  and  letting  his  imagination  go  as  far  as  it  likes  in  the 
mystery  of  the  house  of  Usher:  “I  looked  upon  the  scene  before  me — 
upon  the  mere  house  and  the  simple  landscape  features  of  the  domain, 
upon  the  vacant  eye-like  windows,  upon  a few  rank  ridges,  and  upon  a 
few  white  trunks  of  decayed  trees.” 

The  meaning  of  a “great  many  unusual  words”  is  that  he  likes  to  be 
different  from  other  people  by  using  unusual  words,  as  “tarn,”  which 
means  a mountain  lake,  or  as  “phantasmagoric,”  which  is  one  of  his 
favorite  words. 

The  description  of  his  first  character,  Roderick  Usher,  shows  he  is 
wondering  about  the  place  and  its  mystery.  “Yet  the  character  of  his 
face  had  been  at  all  times  remarkable — a cadaverousness  of  complexion; 
an  eye  large,  liquid  and  luminous  beyond  comparison ; lips  somewhat  thin 
and  very  pallid,  but  of  a surpassingly  beautiful  curve;  a nose  of  a deli- 
cate Hebrew  model,  but  with  breadth  of  nostril  unusual  in  similar 
formations;  a finely  molded  chin,  speaking  in  its  want  of  prominence  of 


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17 


want  of  moral  energy.”  He  goes  on  describing  him  by  telling  of  his 
web-like  hair. 

My  impression  of  Poe  is  that  he  is  a silent  and  mysterious  man,  think- 
ing and  wondering  of  what  is  to  come.  He  writes  as  if  he  were  in  a 
stupid  and  dreamy  mood,  as  if  his  senses  were  numbed  by  something. 

The  Raven. 

Charles  Coleman. — Poe  was  a strange  man  and  wrote  all  of  his 
stories  in  that  strain.  He  wrote  mysterious  stories  and  poems.  His  words 
are  unusual  and  express  supernatural  qualities.  Most  of  the  characters 
are  queer  or  supernatural. 

Mystery  and  ghastliness  are  shown  in  these  lines:  “Ghastly  grim  and 
ancient  raven  wandering  from  the  nightly  shore.” 

His  words  are  unusual  and  express  a supernatural  quality;  “Quaff, 
oh  quaff,  this  kind  nepenthe  and  forget  this  lost  Lenore!”  Also  the 
repetition  of  “Quoth  the  raven  Nevermore!”  makes  it  queer  or  super- 
natural. 

Poe  was  a very  mysterious  man.  This  is  proved  by  his  strange  and 
mysterious  writings.  He  was  a very  nervous  man,  and  this  stands  out 
in  most  of  his  writings. 

Dan  Schaffner. — Poe  was  a man  who  wrote  about  mysterious  things. 
He  often  had  mysterious  moods.  While  he  was  in  these  moods  he  wrote 
about  very  unusual  things.  He  had  an  unusual  command  of  words, 
which  was  a great  advantage  to  him.  His  characters  were  out  of  the 
ordinary,  such  as  “The  Raven”  or  “The  Goldbug.” 

He  had  moods  of  mystery  and  dreaming  and  he  wrote  about  very 
unusual  things.  “Doubting,  dreaming  dreams  no  mortal  ever  dared  to 
dream  before.  But  the  silence  was  unbroken  and  the  stillness  gave  no 
token,  and  the  only  word  there  spoken  was  the  whispered  word  Lenore.” 
This  illustrates  the  mood  Poe  was  in  when  he  wrote  “The  Raven.” 

He  had  an  unusual  command  of  words,  which  was  a great  advantage 
to  him.  “Ghastly  grim  and  ancient  raven  wandering  from  night’s 
Plutonian  shore.” 

He  had  queer  ways  of  dealing  with  his  characters  and  bringing  them 
out.  “The  Raven”  and  “The  Goldbug”  show  how  unusual  some  of  his 
characters  are. 

Poe  was  an  unusual  man.  He  had  a mysterious  disposition  and 
unusual  skill  as  a writer.  He  would  sit  down  and  figure  out  how  he 
could  write  an  unusual  and  weird  poem  or  story.  His  works  were  weird 
and  mysterious. 

The  House  of  Usher. 

Sarah  Howe. — Poe  was  a weird  and  mysterious  man.  His  writings 
show  that  he  was  in  a strange  mood  and  he  thought  about  weird  and 
unnatural  things.  He  used  words  that  would  describe  the  queer  things 
that  he  was  writing,  words  that  tell  of  weird  people  and  places.  His 
characters  have  some  strange  happening  or  things  connected  with  them, 
or  else  they  are  strange  and  mysterious  in  themselves. 

His  mood  was  always  queer.  He  would  write  about  melancholy  things. 
This  quotation  shows  his  mood:  “During  the  whole  of  a dull,  dark  and 
soundless  day  in  autumn  of  the  year,  when  the  'clouds  hung  oppressively 
low  in  the  heavens,  I had  been  passing  alone  on  horseback  through  a 
singularly  dreary  tract  of  country,  and  at  length  found  himself,  as  the 
shades  of  the  evening  drew  on,  within  view  of  the  melancholy  house 
of  Usher.” 

The  quotation  shows  Poe’s  power  of  description  and  his  use  of 
words:  “Feeble  gleams  of  encrimsoned  light  made  their  way  through  the 
trellised.  panes,  and  served  to  render  sufficiently  distinct  the  more  promi- 
nent objects  around;  the  eye,  however,  struggled  in  vain  to  reach  the 
remoter  angles  of  the  chamber,  of  the  recesses  of  the  vaulted  and 
fretted  ceiling.” 

Poe  describes  one  of  his  characters:  “In  the  manner  of  my  friends 


18 


TEACHING 


I was  at  once  struck  with  an  incoherence,  an  inconsistency;  and  I soon 
found  this  to  arise  from  a series  of  feeble  and  futile  struggles  to  over- 
come an  habitual  trepidancy,  an  excessive  nervous  agitation.”  In  this 
we  also  see  Poe. 

Poe  was  a very  queer  man  and  his  mind  dwelt  on  unnatural  and 
mysterious  things.  All  of  his  writings  are  weird  and  mysterious.  He 
put  his  queer  feelings  into  writings,  and  that  makes  his  queer  stories. 

Thomas  Butcher. — From  what  I have  read  of  Edgar  Allen  Poe,  I 
should  say  he  was  quite  a mysterious  writer  and  he  always  wrote  of  the 
supernatural.  His  style  of  writing  is  very  singular.  His  mood  seems  to 
be  alone  and  forlorn,  and  he  takes  life  with  the  feeling  of  an  outcast.  He 
uses  many  words  of  which  the  meaning  may  not  be  plain,  but  they  carry 
a mysterious  feeling  and  his  characters  are  strange  and  unreal. 

His  mysterious  mood  and  his  forlorn  outcasted  feeling  is  shown  in  a 
quotation  from  “The' Raven” : “Once  upon  a midnight  dreary,  while  I 
pondered  weak  and  weary.” 

In  a quotation  from  “The  Fall  of  the  House  of  Usher”  his  mysterious 
and  strange  words  and  characters  are  shown:  “To  an  anomalous  species 
of  terror  I found  him  a bounden  slave.” 

I am  impressed  wth  Poe  as  having  gone  through  many  experiences  of 
terror,  as  all  his  writings  carry  this  symbol.  He  always  gave  an  under- 
note of  mystery  to  his  writing.  I like  his  writings  and  look  upon  them  as 
unreal.  He  was  a man  who  had  gone  through  many  thrilling  scenes. 

Mabel  Rohr. — Poe  was  a man  who  liked  detective  and  mystery  stories. 
He  was)  a man  who  wrote  of  dark  and  gloomy  surroundings.  He  used 
words  that  suggest  weird,  desolate  and  ghostly  things  in  all  his  descrip- 
tions. His  characters  are  people  who  were  given  to  wild  actions  and  were 
nearly  mad  or  insane. 

Poe  was  a man  who  liked  detective  and  mystery  stories — “The  Fall  of 
the  House  of  Usher.” 

He  was  a man  who  wrote  of  dark  and  gloomy  surroundings:  “Having 
deposited  our  mournful  burden  upon  tressels  within  this  region  of  horror, 
we  partially  turned  aside  the  yet  unscrewed  lid  of  the  coffin,  and  looked 
upon  the  face  of  the  tenant.” 

He  used  words  that  suggest  weird,  desolate  and  ghostly  things  in  all 
his  descriptions:  “I  endeavored  to  believe  that  much  if  not  all  of  what 
I felt  was  due  to  the  room — of  the  dark  and  tattered  draperies  which,  tor- 
tured into  motion  by  the  breath  of  the  rising  tempest,  swayed  fitfully 
to  and  fro  upon  the  walls,  and  rustled  uneasily  about  the  decorations  of 
the  bed.” 

His  characters  were  people  who  were  given  to  wild  actions,  and  were 
nearly  mad  or  insane:  “Madman!  Here  he  sprang  furiously  to  his  feet, 
and  shrieked  out  his  syallables  as  if  in  the  effort  he  were  giving  up  his 
soul.  Madman!  I tell  you  that  she  now  stands  without  the  door!” 

Poe  was  a man  who  liked  solitude.  He  was  very  nervous  and  imagina- 
tive. His  stories  are  very  good  descriptions  for  those  who  like  mystery 
stories. 

PROJECT-PROBLEM  INSTRUCTION  IN  ARITHMETIC. 

Sixth  and  Seventh  Grade  Classes. 

Miss  Avice  Wright,  Supervisor. 

The  following  are  abbreviated  records  of  project-problem  work  in 
arithmetic.  Types  of  problem  instruction  in  arithmetic  arise  from  three 
main  sources.  First,  and  of  most  importance,  are  the  problems  which 
occur  in  connection  with  projects  arising  from  other  subjects  in  the 
curriculum.  This  serves  not  only  as  an  economy  of  time  in  correlating 
subject  matter,  but  also  as  an  excellent  basis  for  the  application  of  the 
mechanics  of  arithmetic.  From  this  aspect  of  the  subject  arithmetic 


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19 


in  the  upper  grades  may  be  termed  more  and  more  a service  subject. 
Second,  problems  arise  from  interests  stimulated  as  a new  subject  is 
considered  in  arithmetic. 

The  various  departments  make  service  demands  upon  each  other.  The 
following  problems  represent  a demand  by  the  pupils  in  a home  economics 
class  upon  an  arithmetic  class  to  which  the  girls  belong.  The  boys  of 
the  class  in  arithmetic  were  interested  in  helping  the  girls  solve  such 
problems. 

7.  Correlation  of  the  subject-matter. 

1.  Domestic  Science  Lesson  in  Mashed  Potatoes.  Data  brought  to 
arithmetic  from  cooking  lesson  in  spring  of  1917 : 


Weight  of  potatoes 
2 lb.,  5 oz. 

Amt.  butter  each  used 
y2Ts. 

Amt.  milk  each  used 
2%Ts. 


Portion 

6 

Total  amt.  for 
61 

Total  amt.  for 
6? 


Cost  per  lb. 

Cost  per  lb. 
' 45 4 

Cost  per  pt. 
5$ 


Measurements  to  be  used : 

2 cups  butter — 1 lb. 

32  tablespoons  butter — 1 lb. 
16  tablespoons  milk — 1 cup. 
2 cups  milk— 1 pt. 


Such  questions  as  the  following  arose  from  this  data: 

(1)  What  was  the  average  amount  of  potatoes  each  used? 

(2)  What  was  the  cost  of  mashed  potato  each  made? 

(3)  What  was  the  total  cost  of  mashed  potato? 

(4)  What  was  the  cost  of  raw  potato  used  by  each?  Total 

amount? 

(5)  What  was  the  cost  of  milk  and  butter  each  used?  Total 

amount? 


II.  The  problem  which  arises  in  connection  with  the  subject  matter  of 
the  arithmetic  course  of  study. 

(1)  The  following  problem  arose  in  connection  with  the  general  study 
of  investment.  This  particular  one  arose  out  of  the  pupils’  study  of  the 
cost  of  their  own  living. 

Statement  of  the  problem:  “Is  it  cheaper  to  buy  or  rent  a home  in 
Emporia?”  The  following  are  questions  which  were  worked  out  by  an 
eighth-grade  pupil,  using  his  own  home  as  the  basis  of  his  information. 

Renter : 

1.  What  is  the  rent  paid? 

2.  What  is  the  value  of  your  house,  and  has  the  value  changed? 

If  so,  what  change  has  been  made? 

3.  How  long  have  you  rented  this  house? 

4.  How  much  interest  did  you  make  on  money  with  which  you 

could  buy  this  house?  Or  how  much  interest  could  you 
have  made  on  the  money  required  to  buy  this  house? 

Owner: 

1.  What  did  you  pay  for  your  home? 

2.  How  much  is  it  worth  now? 


20 


TEACHING 


3.  When  did  you  buy  it? 

4.  What  was  the  rate  of  interest  charged  at  the  time  you 

bought  the  house  and  has  it  changed  since  date  of  pur- 
chase? 

5.  What  permanent  improvements  have  you  made?  Cost? 

6.  What  is  the  annual  insurance  on  the  property? 

7.  What  temporary  improvements,  such  as  tinting  walls  and 

painting  of  the  outside  of  the  house,  have  been  made? 

8.  What  are  the  taxes  on  the  property? 

9.  What  was  the  rental  value?  i.  e.,  what  could  you  have  rented 

your  property  for  at  the  time  of  purchase?  Has  the 
rental  value  changed  since  that  time?  If  you  rented  your 
property  at  the  time  .of  purchase  what  did  it  rent  for? 
Has  the  rent  changed  since  that  time? 

In  considering  the  problem  the  pupil  found  that  he  must  consider  his 
own  home  from  the  standpoint  of  the  renter  as  well  as  that  of  the  owner. 
With  the  above  outline  in  hand  he  sought  the  necessary  information  in 
his  own  home,  and  then  the  problem  was  ready  for  solution. 

2.  The  following  problem  also  arose  out  of  the  pupil’s  interest  and 
work  on  problems  of  the  cost  of  living  in  connection  with  the  larger  topic 
in  the  course  on  investment:  “Can  a man  support  comfortably  a family 
of  five  on  $100  a month ?”  The  pupil  attacked  this  problem  by  itemizing 
different  expenditures  as  far  as  he  could  make  them  out  in  school,  and 
then  with  the  outline  in  hand  he  sought  information  in  his  own  home. 
The  following  ledger  sheet  is  a copy  of  one  child’s  problem: 


Debit.  Credit. 

Salary  ...( $100.00  ........ 

Taxes  $5.00 

Lights  .50 

Water 1.75 

Groceries  25.00 

Repairs  3.00 

Clothing 15.00 

Education  5.00 

Phone  '. . . . 1.25 

Doctor  bill  3.00 

Fuel  10.00 

Enjoyments 5.00 

Balance  for  savings  account 26.50 


$100.00  $100.00 


III.  Type  of  problem  arising  in  connection  with  school  activities. 

This  problem  arose  from  the  fact  that  many  of  our  pupils  felt  that 
the  school  owed  them  much  on  account  of  the  small  tuition  fee  which  they 
paid  to  the  school.  So  it  was  suggested  that  an  excellent  problem  would 
be  as  follows: 

“What  is  the  cost  per  pupil  in  the  school?” 

As  a group  they  made  an  outline  of  the  items  they  would  need  to  know. 

Pupils’  account  with  the  state  (for  one  year)  : 


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21 


Debit.  Credit. 


Total  salaries  of  teachers  and  janitor $16,128.08  

Supplies,  books,  papers  and  materials  for  Miss 

Beye’s  and  Mr.  Wells’s  departments 296.45  

Light  245.52  

Heat  503.93  

Water  82.19  

Miscellaneous  expenses  1,336.14  

Amount  received  for  tuition $810.66 

Balance  17,986)'.  10 


$18,796.76  $18,796.76 

Number  of  pupils  in  school  during  school  year,  192. 

Number  of  pupils  in  school  during  summer  session,  263. 

Average  number  in  school,  227. 

Cost  per  pupil,  $79.23. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  above  facts  the  pupils  first  organized,  and 
each  one  had  a certain  number  of  teachers  to  see  in  order  to  find  out 
what  percent  of  their  time  they  spent  in  the  school  as  compared  with 
the  amount  of  time  spent  in  the  instruction  of  college  students  in  the 
Normal  School,  so  that  the  exact  salary  which  should  be  charged  to  the 
school  should  be  determined.  This  served  as  excellent  percentage  work. 
Then  a committee  was  appointed  to  visit  the  bursar’s  office  and  ask  him 
to  make  a list  showing  the  other  expenses  of  the  school.  The  con- 
clusions of  this  problem  were  very  evident  from  the  result  obtained. 
The  pupils  keenly  appreciated  what  was  being  done  for  them. 

PROJECT-PROBLEM  INSTRUCTION  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCIENCE. 

Miss  Florence  Billig,  Supervisor. 

During  an  informal  discussion  in  an  eighth-grade  elementary  science 
class  concerning  the  hygienic  conditions:  of  their  home  city,  this  general 
project  was  stated:  “To  find  out  what  problems  confront  the  city  of 
Emporia  in  maintaining  the  health  of  its  people.” 

The  working  out  of  the  project  involved  many  subprojects  and  prob- 
lems. As  the  discussion  progressed  the  following  questions  were  raised: 

1.  What  relation  does  "the  Board  of  Health  have  to  the  health  of  Em- 

poria? 

2.  What  provisions  are  made  for  securing  pure  milk  in  Emporia? 

3.  How  does  Emporia  secure  pure  water?  What  is  the  condition  of 

the  water  in  Emporia? 

4.  How  is  garbage  disposed  of  in  Emporia? 

5.  How  is  sewage  disposed  of  in  Emporia? 

6.  What  care  is  taken  to  keep  the  streets  and  alleys  clean? 

7.  Why  should  we  fight  the  fly?  What  is  done  in  Emporia  to  fight  the 

fly? 

8.  Why  should  we  fight  the  mosquito?  What  is  done  in  Emporia  to 

fight  the  mosquito? 

9.  What  does  Emporia  do  to  prevent  the  spread  of  contagious  diseases? 

10.  What  means  has  Emporia  to  protect  its  people  from  disease? 

11.  What  can  each  of  us  do  to  help  in  the  protection  of  the  health  of  the 

people  of  Emporia? 


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Evelyn  Geeslin,  a member  of  the  class,  was  assigned  the  subproject 
to  show:  “How  Emporia  takes  care  of  its  garbage.” 

The  following  is  a record  of  her  work: 

1.  Every  town  has  garbage. 

2.  Garbage  must  be  taken  care  of  or  else  it  will  cause  sickness. 

3.  Garbage  must  not  be  thrown  on  the  ground,  for  it  will  draw 

flies. 

What  I want  to  know  in  order  to  solve  my  project: 

1.  What  is  garbage? 

2.  What  laws  are'  there  in  Emporia  concerning  the  disposal  of 

garbage? 

3.  How  is  the  garbage  of  Emporia  disposed  of? 

4.  Who  has  charge  of  garbage  disposal? 

5.  How  does  Winfield,  Kansas  (the  so-called  child’s  home  town), 

take  care  of  its  garbage? 

Discussion  (as  given  by  the  pupil  to  the  class)  : 

Garbage  is  waste  from  the  kitchen,  such  as  potato  and  apple  parings, 
bones,  corn  cobs,  corn  husks,  etc. 

Revised  ordinances  of  Emporia,  1915,  section  146:  “Refuse  in  street; 
penalty.  Any  person  who  shall  in  this  city  cause  or  suffer  any  offal, 
manure,  rubbish,  filth,  or  suffer  any  vegetable  or  animal  refuse  or  any 
foul  or  noxious  liquor  to  be  discharged  out  of  or  flow  from  premises 
occupied  by  him  to  be  thrown  into,  deposited  or  left  in  or  upon  any 
street,  alley,  public  square,  vacant  lot  or  any  public  place  in  said  city 
shall  be  fined  in  any  sum  not  less  than  five  dollars  nor  more  than  one 
hundred  dollars.” 

Revised  ordinances  of  Emporia,  1915,  section  321:  “Garbage.  No 

garbage  or  obstructions  of  any  kind  shall  be  deposited  in  any  catch  basin, 
manhole  or  sewer,  and  no  person  shall  damage  or  remove  any  portion  of 
the  catch  basin,  manhole,  lamp  hole,  flush  tank  or  sewer.  The  installation 
of  slop  hoppers  outside  of  buildings  is  prohibited.” 

From  a visit  with  Doctor  Corbett,  the  health  officer  of  Emporia,  I 
found : 

1.  Garbage  must  be  separated  from  rubbish. 

2.  Garbage  must  be  placed  in  a closed  bucket  or  can  near  the 

alley.  If  it  is  not  in  a closed  bucket  or  can  the  garbage 
man  need  not  collect  it. 

3.  Garbage  must  be  collected  in  a closed  wagon,  three  times  a 

week  in  summer  and  once  a week  in  winter. 

4.  Some  garbage  is  buried  in  trenches  north  of  Emporia.  The 

garbage  collector  can  use  or  sell  any  garbage  he  collects. 
The  incinerator  in  which  the  garbage  was,  previous  to  this 
time,  burned  is  now  broken  and  will  not  be  repaired  because 
it  was  considered  an  unnecessary  expense  to  the  city. 

5.  The  garbage  collector  is  hired  by  the  health  department.  He 

is  paid  $100  a month  by  the  city.  He  must  furnish  and 
keep  his  own  horses,  but  the  city  owns  the  wagons  in  which 
the  garbage  is  collected. 

6.  Garbage  in  open  cans  is  a good  breeding  place  for  flies.  Flies 

carry  diseases. 

In  order  to  know  what  some  other  city  is  doing  with  its  garbage,  I 
wrote  the  following  letter : 

Emporia,  Kan.,  606  West  Twelfth  St., 
June  26,  1917. 

To  the  Board  of  Health,  Winfield,  Kan: 

My  Dear  Sirs — In  my  science  class  I am  working  on  the  garbage 


23 


TEACHING 

problem  of  Emporia.  I would  appreciate  any  information  you  might 
give  me  concerning  the  following  questions : 

1.  What  laws  have  you  concerning  the  disposal  of  garbage? 

2.  How  do  you  dispose  of  the  garbage? 

3.  Is  garbage  collected  regularly  in  your  city? 

Please  send  me  a copy  of  the  ordinances  of  Winfield.  I thank  you  for 
this  favor.  Yours  truly,  Evelyn  Geeslin. 

In  answer  to  this  letter  the  following  information  was  received : 

1.  Garbage  must  be  kept  in  a closed  can,  easily  accessible  for 

removal. 

2.  One  man  and  a team  work  full  time  in  gathering  garbage. 

3.  Garbage  is  collected  regularly. 

4.  There  are  no  published  copies  of  city  ordinances  for  distribu- 

tion. 

References : 

Revised  ordinances  of  Emporia,  1915,  sections  146  and  321. 

Board  of  health,  Emporia,  Kansas. 

Board  of  health,  Winfield,  Kansas. 

This  report  was  followed  by  a report  from  Herbert  Drake,  who  made 
a careful  investigation  of  the  garbage  cans  in  a section  of  the  city  near 
the  school:  “In  this  district  there  were  forty  houses.  In'  all  but 

twelve  cases  there  was  a receptacle  of  some  kind  in  which  to  put  gar- 
bage. In  these  twelve  cases  the  garbage  was  emptied  on  the  ground.  In 
seven  cases  the  garbage  was  emptied  in  wooden  boxes;  nine  families 
put  garbage  in  uncovered  tubs,  while  seven  used  old  pails.  Five  families 
had  regulation  garbage  cans.  These  were  the  only  ones  which  had 
covers.  I am  going  to  investigate  other  alleys,  but  from  this  study  I do 
not  believe  the  good  rules  which  Emporia  has  regarding  garbage  dis- 
posal are  being  strictly  enforced.” 

This  study  was  followed  by  a discussion  of  what  other  cities,  as 
Chicago  and  New  York,  are  doing  along  this  line.  The  part  each  member 
of  the  class  could  play  in  improving  the  situation  was  carefully  con- 
sidered. 

Dan  Schaffner,  another  member  of  the  class,  worked  out  the  following 
project:  “To  study  the  water  situation,  to  find  out  its  relation  to  the 
health  of  the  people  of  Emporia.” 

What  I know  about  my  project: 

1.  Emporia  secures  its  drinking  water  from  the  Neosho  river. 

2.  There  is  a pumping  station  about  two  and  one-half  miles  north 

of  town  which  pumps  the  water  from  the  river.  The  big 

tanks  are  located  about  one-half  mile  from  the  river.  There 

is  a water  tower  which  forces  the  water  to  town. 

3.  We  are  sometimes  told  to  boil  our  water  because  it  is  not  pure. 

4.  Mr.  Smith  is  superintendent  of  the  waterworks. 

What  I want  to  know  to  work  my  project: 

1.  What  are  the  dangers  of  impure  water  to  health? 

a.  Typhoid  fever. 

b.  Cholera. 

2.  What  home  methods  are  used  for  purifying  the  water? 

a.  Boiling. 


24 


TEACHING 


b.  Settling. 

c.  Distilling. 

d.  Filtering. 

3.  How  does  Emporia  secure  a pure  water  supply? 

4.  How  does  Emporia  keep  its  people  from  wasting  water? 

Finding  the  problem  too  extensive,  Dan  Schaffner  secured  assistance 

from  other  members  of  his  class,  but  he  took  up  the  first  problem,  which 
he  stated  as  follows:  “What  are  the  dangers  of  impure  water  to  health?” 

What  I want  to  know  about  my  problem: 

1.  What  diseases  are  dangerous  because  of  impure  drinking 

water? 

2.  How  long  have  people  known  that  impure  water  is  dangerous? 

I secured  good  information  on  my  problem  from  the  following  refer- 
ences: 

Gulick  Series,  Town  and  City,  pages  99  to  140. 

O’Shea  and  Kellogg,  Health  and  Cleanliness,  pages  170  to  190. 

Hunter,  Civil  Biology,  pages  289  to  383. 

Discussion  (by  Dan  Schaffner)  : 

Two  thousand  years  ago  the  Romans  knew  that  pure  drinking  water 
was  the  secret  of  good  health.  To  get  pure  drinking  water  they  built 
an  aqueduct  to  the  Latin  Hills,  many  miles  away.  They  did  not  use  the 
water  from  the  Tiber,  which  ran  through  the  city,  for  they  were  afraid 
of  it.  The  Romans  knew  one  thing — that  impure  water  is  dangerous  to 
health. 

The  Chinese  knew  this  too.  They  also  knew  that  no  matter  how  dirty 
the  water  was,  a few  minutes  would  make  it  as  safe  as  if  it  had  come 
from  a spring.  The  Chinese  usually  put  a few  leaves  of  tea  in  the  water. 

In  England  the  people  have  been  slow  to  realize  the  importance  of 
pure  drinking  water,  as  the  London  epidemics  showed. 


Epidemic  of — Duration.  Deaths. 

1847 23  weeks,  13,565 

1854 23  weeks,  10,684 

1865 23  weeks,  5,548 


The  deaths  in  these  epidemics  were  caused  by  cholera,  the  germs  of 
which  were  in  the  water  that  the  people  had  been  drinking. 

Typhoid  fever  is  another  disease  caused  by  impure  drinking  water.  In 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  deaths  due  to  typhoid  fever  in  1904,  before  the  new  intake 
was  installed,  were: 

In  February 45 

In  March 50 

In  April  27 

In  1905,  after  the  new  intake,  ten  miles  from  the  sewage  outlet,  water 
to  be  taken  from  the  lake  five  miles  from  land,  was  installed,  the  deaths 
were: 

In  February  2 

In  March 5 

In  April  7 

Emporia  secures  its  drinking  water  from  the  Neosho  river.  The  water 
is  filtered  before  it  is  turned  into  the  mains.  Before  the  filters  were 
installed  the  water  was  allowed  to  settle  in  large  reservoirs.  It  was 
boiled  or  filtered  in  many  of  the  homes  before  being  used.  The  Emporia 
ice  plant  sold  distilled  water  to  those  desiring  it. 

Water  contains  many  germs  which  are  harmful  to  health.  Typhoid 


TEACHING 


25 


fever  and  cholera  are  two  diseases  commonly  caused  by  using  impure 
drinking  water. 

Charles  Coleman  worked  out  the  next  problem  concerned  with  the  water 
project,  which  was  stated  as  follows:  “What  home  methods  are  used  for 
purifying  water?” 

What  I want  to  know  about  the  home  methods  used  in  purifying  water : 

1.  How  does  boiling  purify  water? 

2.  Why  does  boiled  water  taste  “flat”? 

3.  How  long  should  water  be  boiled  to  make  it  pure? 

4.  Will  freezing  kill  germs? 

5.  Why  should  boiled  water  be  kept  in  a cool  place? 

6.  What  good  does  settling  do? 

7.  How  is  water  distilled? 

8.  Why  is  water  distilled? 

9.  What  does  the  home  filter  do  to  water? 

References  which  I consulted  in  working  my  problem: 

Red  Cross  Text,  Elementary  Hygiene  and  Home  Care  of  the  Sick. 

Hessler,  First  Year  of  Science,  pages  80,  87  and  115. 

Pease,  General  Science,  pages  68  and  69. 

ElhufF,  General  Science,  pages  87,  138,  226. 

Caldwell  and  Eikenberry,  General  Science,  pages  107  and  108. 

Emporia  Ice  Plant,  Emporia^  Kan. 

Gulick  Series,  Town  and  City,  pages  117  to  132. 

Discussion  as  given  to  the  class  by  Charles  Coleman. 

There  are  several  ways  of  making  impure  water  safe  for  drinking 
purposes.  Boiling  is  a very  common  way  used  in  the  home.  The  water 
should  be  allowed  to  stand  for  some  time  in  order  that  all  solid  matter 
in  the  water  will  settle  to  the  bottom.  The  water  should  then  be  care- 
fully turned  into  another  vessel,  not  allowing  the  settlings  to  go  into  the 
second  vessel.  The  water  should  then  be  boiled  for  at  least  twenty 
minutes.  A longer  time  would  be  better. 

The  vessel  should  be  covered  and  the  water  should  be  cooled.  It  can 
be  poured  from  one  vessel  to  another  to  allow  it  to  mix  with  the  gases 
of  the  air.  After  doing  this  it  will  not  taste  “flat.”  The  water  should 
then  be  put  in  sterilized  jars  or  bottles  and  put  in  the  ice  box  to  cool. 

Boiling  the  water  kills  thei  bacteria  in  the  water.  Freezing  does  not 
kill  bacteria.  It  only  stops  their  multiplication.  When  the  ice  melts, 
and  becomes  warm  enough,  the  bacteria  begin  developing  again.  If  the 
boiled  water  is  kept  in  a cool  place  it  tastes  better. 

In  many  homes  the  solid  particles  in  the  water  are  allowed  to  settle  in 
the  bottom  of  the  vessel. 

Lime  will  make  the  water  become  clear.  Lime  forms  a precipitate 
which  settles  to  the  bottom,  carrying  with  it  many  bacteria.  Settling 
really  only  frees  the  water  from  solid  particles  and  does  not  purify  as 
far  as  bacteria  are  concerned. 

Distilling  is  one  way  of  purifying  water.  It  is  really  a very  simple 
thing  to  do.  By  boiling,  water  is  changed  to  vapor,  which  in  turn  is 
condensed. 

While  in  the  form  of  vapor,  the  water  is  carried  through  sterilized 
pipes  to  another  tank.  No  germs  or  solid  parts  will  pass  from  the  first 
tank  to  the  second. 

The  pupil  distilled  some  faucet  water.  To  show  the  process  more 
clearly,  red  ink  was  put  in  the  tank  and  heated.  Only  clear  water  was 
caught  in  the  second  tank. 


26 


TEACHING 


The  class  visited  the  ice  plant  of  Emporia,  where  water  is  distilled  in 
the  commercial  way.  Distilled  water  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  ice. 

A short  report  on  filters  was  given  by  Joe  Longshore,  a member  of  the 
class.  The  detailed  study  of  a filter  was  taken  up  when  the  sand  filter, 
used  in  Emporia,  was  studied.  The  filter  question  was  stated  in  the  form 
of  a problem  as  follows:  “Qf  what  value  are  filters  in  purifying  the 
water?” 

What  I want  to  know  about  filters : 

1.  What  is  a filter? 

2.  What  is  the  purpose  of  a filter? 

3.  What  kinds  of  filters  are  used? 

I consulted  the  following  references  in  working  out  my  problem: 

Gulick  Series,  Town  and  City,  pages  125  to  132. 

O’Shea  and  Kellogg,  Health  and  Cleanliness. 

Discussion  by  Joe  Longshore: 

Filters  are  used  in  many  homes.  Charcoal,  sand  and  various  kinds  of 
stones  are  used.  These  serve  mainly  to  clarify  the  water.  The  danger  in 
the  use  of  home  filters  is  almost  as  great  as  in  the  use  of  water  which  has 
not  been  filtered,  because  they  are  not  always  kept  clean.  Home  filters 
require  absolute  cleanliness. 

It  has  been  found  that  large  city  filters  are  of  the  greatest  value  in 
protecting  the  city  from  disease.  It  has  been  found  by  experimenting  that 
filtered  sewage  can  be  made  safe  to  drink. 

The  secret  of  the  value  of  the  sand  filter  is  that  on  each  grain  of  sand 
there  are  microbes.  There  are  more  on  the  surface  of  the  filter  than 
farther  down,  for  they  need  oxygen.  These  friendly  microbes  find  their 
best  food  in  the  worst  kind  of  sewage.  They  are  responsible  for  purifying 
the  water. 

Filters  are  generally  made  with  a cement  bottom.  In  this  is  laid  a 
pipe  which  has  openings  through  which  the  water  can  pass.  Above  this 
is  a layer  of  coarse  gravel,  a layer  of  medium  coarse  gravel,  and  a layer 
of  fine  gravel  about  the  size  of  a pea.  On  top  of  this  are  three  or  more 
feet  of  sand.  The  water  is  on  top  of  the  sand. 

Class  conclusions  drawn  from  the  study  of  the  methods  used  in  puri- 
fying water. 


TEACHING 


27 


1.  Water  can  be  purified  by  settling,  boiling,  distilling,  using  chemicals, 

and  by  using  filters. 

2.  Settling  is  commonly  used,  but  is  not  safe,  for  microbes  are  not  killed. 

Some  may  settle  to  the  bottom  with  the  solid  matter. 

3.  Sand  filters  are  excellent  for  commercial  uses. 

4.  The  common  home  filters  are  dangerous  unless  kept  absolutely  clean. 

5.  Distilling  is  the  best  way  to  purify  water.  All  dishes  used  should  be 

sterilized  before  being  used  to  hold  distilled  water. 

6.  Boiling  is  the  Jbest  and  most  convenient  means  of  purifying  water. 


Drawn  by  pupil 

Diagram  of  a Sand  Filter. 


3 Uro^h/> 

OAjdl. 


P>17w  i 
Qjt/VY&V wl 


k-  c^ia^A qh&Ajel, 

Oj^cjoeL  d 


The  next  problem  of  the  water  project,  “How  does  Emporia  secure  a 
pure  water  supply?”  was  worked  out  by  the  class. 

What  we  want  to  know: 

1.  Where  does  our  water  come  from? 

2.  How  is  the  water  pumped? 

3.  What  processes  does  the  water  pass  through  on  its  way  from 

the  Neosho  river  to  our  faucets? 

4.  We  want  to  visit  the  water  plant. 

Mr.  Alva  Smith,  superintendent  of  the  Emporia  water  department, 
went  with  the  class  to  the  pumping  station  and  to  the  filter  station,  ex- 
plaining every  process  through  which  the  water  passes  before  being 
turned  into  the  mains.  Notes  were  taken  by  the  class.  Samples  of  the 
gravel  and  sand  used  in  the  filter  and  of  the  alum  and  lime  used  were 
given  to  the  class.  In  the  following  lesson  the  material  was  organized  by 
the  class.  Diagrams  were  made  by  the  class.  Copies  of  a few  of  the 
diagrams  are  reproduced  here.  They  are  in  each  case  as  nearly  as  possi- 
ble like  the  originals. 

1.  Source.  The  water  of  Emporia  comes  from  the  Neosho  river. 
There  are  two  dams  in  the  river.  The  Ruggles  dam  is  located  seven 
miles  up  the  river  from  the  pumping  station  and  holds  back  400,000,000 
gallons  of  water.  The  dam  at  the  pumping  station  holds  back  110,000,000 
gallons  of  water. 

2.  The  pumping  station.  The  water  is  pumped  by  an  electric  pump. 


28 


TEACHING 


Diagram  of  Filtering  plant  of  Emporia. 


head  fcowjt. 


IkPtpe  ^vou^  which  rater  cymes  jr»w  r,uev. 


— 

tx~~  ■ 

rao.m  . 

Jk 

5 

m - 

ffifehr  fallen 


Statwv* 
i-^^c  chamber 

:ca$  u(  <**»»»$ 

Msm 


/c,  / /7 


■^C70* 

F/^-  i- 

3.  Pipe  line.  The  water  is  pumped  from  the  Neosho  river  and  is  car- 
ried through  a sixteen-inch  pipe  to  the  aerator. 

4.  The  aerator.  (See  figure  1 for  location  of  aerator.)  The  aerator 
has  a concrete  foundation.  There  are  sixteen  pans,  arranged  as  shown 
in  figure  2.  The  water  comes  through  the  sixteen-inch  pipe  (2)  and 
empties  into  the  upper  pan.  The  water  is  aerated  as  it  falls  from  pan 
to  pan.  This  oxidizes  the  iron  soluble  to  an  insoluble  form,  and  frees  the 
water  of  gases. 

5.  The  lime  head.  The  water  is  carried  from  the  aerator  through 
a trough  into  a small  basin  (Figs.  1,  3)  in  the  building.  Here  lime  is 


TEACHING 


29 


introduced  into  the  water.  The  lime  head  holds  4,500  pounds  of  lime. 
This  amount  lasts  about  two  weeks.  The  rate  of  feeding  can  be  changed. 

6.  The  coagulating  basin.  The  water,  after  receiving  the  lime,  passes 
over  and  under  a series  of  baffles,  and  is  then  carried  to  the  coagulating 
basin  (4),  which  is  north  of  the  aerator.  The  coagulating  basin  is 
fourteen  feet  deep  and  has  a number  of  baffles.  There  is  a scum  on  the 
water,  which  is  caused  by  the  floculates.  The  water  is  carried  from  this 
coagulating  basin  to  the  coagulating  basin  (5),  south  of  the  aerator. 
This  basin  also  contains  a series  of  baffles. 

7.  The  reservoir.  The  water  is  carried  from  the  south  to  coagulating 
basin  (5)  by  means  of  flume  (6),  to  the  north  reservoir  or  settling 
basin  (7).  The  water  empties  into  a trough  (8),  along  the  west  end  of 
the  tank.  From  this  trough  the  water  overflows  into  the  reservoir  and 
does  not  produce  a current.  This  reservoir,  which  is  400  feet  long,  160 
feet  wide  and  20  feet  deep,  holds  seven  and  one-half  million  gallons  of 
water.  From  this  north  reservoir  or  settling  tank  (7)  the  water  is 
carried  through  a trough  leading  from  the  trough  (9)  along  the  west 
side  of  the  settling  basin  to  the  east  coagulating  basin  (10).  The  flow 
of  water  into  this  basin  is  regulated  by  a gate  at  the  entrance  to  the 
basin.  This  basin  is  eleven  feet  deep.  Here  the  water  passes  over  and 
under  a series  of  baffles  to  the  mixing  chamber  (12). 

Diagram  of  Aerator. 


i i 

' 1 I 1 I i 

I 1 i 1 i I 1 i 

L- — 1 I 1 1 1 1 I l | | | 


HzPlPC.  through  whtdx  reiser 

T7j.  X * 

8.  The  alum  mixing  station.  This  station  (12)  is  inside  the  building. 
The  alum  troughs  are  upstairs.  These  hold  600  pounds  of  alum.  Water 
is  poured  on  the  alum  until  it  is  dissolved  and  until  a two  percent  solution 
is  made.  On  a second  floor  there  is  a chemical  room,  which  contains  two 
orifice  boxes,  which  control  automatically  the  amount  of  alum  which  enters 
the  mixing  basin  (12). 

9.  The  filter.  Water  from  the  mixing  station  enters  a trough  along 
the  west  side  of  the  filter  through  a pipe  about  three  feet  from  the  top 
of  the  wall.  The  water  enters  the  filter  from  the  trough  through  holes 
in  the  wall.  This  water  forms  a mat  flocculant  over  the  sand.  After  the 


30 


- TEACHING  

water  has  filtered  through  the  sand  it  is  carried  through  six-inch  pipes  into 
the  dear-water  well.  There  are  wheels  in  front  of  each  filter  which 
regulate  the  entrance  of  water  into  the  filter.  There  are  four  filters  (1) 
(2),  (3),  (4). 

10.  Washing  the  filter.  The  water  is  first  drained  off.  Air  is  forced 
through  the  six-inch  pipes  in  the  bottom  of  the  filter.  This  stirs  up  the 
sand.  Water  is  then  forced  through  the  sand.  The  muddy  water  is 
carried  off  through  troughs  into  pipes  which  lead  to  the  river  below  the 
dams.  Water  is  then  emptied  into  the  filter  as  described  in  the  preceding 
discussion  of  filter. 

11.  The  dear-water  well.  Water  from  the  filter  enters  the  dear- 
water  well,  which  is  under  the  entire  filter  room.  This  well  is  53  feet 
by  31  feet  by  10  feet.  The  water,  is  pumped  from  the  dear-water  well 
to  the  south  reservoir  (Fig.  1,  13).  The  pipe  which  carries  the  water 
from  the  dear-water  well  to  the  south  reservoir  runs  underground  and 
has  its  outlet  (14)  about  five  feet  from  the  top  of  the  basin. 

12.  Wells.  Between  the  north  and  south  reservoirs  there  are  three 
wells.  (Fig.  1,  15,  16  and  17.)  The  water  from  No.  15  is  piped  to  the 
city.  Well  16  was  used  under  the  old  system  of  water  supply,  but  is  now 
abandoned.  Well  17  is  used  when  the  basins  are  drained.  The  water  is 
then  carried  to  the  sewer,  which  empties  into  the  Neosho  river  below 
the  dams. 

13.  Water  tower.  The  water  tower  gives!  the  pressure  for  the  water 
used  in  the  city.  All  water  passes  through  the  tower.  The  tower  holds 
50,000  gallons  of  water.  In  case  of  fire,  water  is  turned  into  the  mains 
directly  from  the  river. 

A model  of  a filter  was  made  by  one  of  the  boys.  The  accompanying 
diagrams  were  made  by  various  members  of  the  class. 

Dan  Schaffner  worked  out  the  following  problem : “How  does  Emporia 
keep  its  people  from  wasting  water?” 

References : 

Gulick,  Town  and  City,  pages  89  to  98. 

Superintendent  of  water  department,  Emporia,  Kan. 

Dan  Schaffner’s  discussion: 

By  investigations  made,  it  hasi  been  found  that  there  is  great  difference 
in  the  amount  of  water  used  by  the  different  towns.  It  has  also  been 
found  that  in  towns  which  use  water  meters,  not  nearly  so  much  water  is 
used,  although  the  people  say  they  use  all  the  water  they  need  for  their 
homes,  lawns,  factories  and  public  buildings.  In  towns  where  no  meters 
are  used  the  faucet  is  often  left  open  during  the  winter  nights  to  keep 
the  pipes  from  freezing,  and  during  the  hot  summer  days  to  cool  milk  and 
butter.  Many  times  broken  faucets  are  not  repaired  as  soon  as  they 
should  be,  and  water  is  wasted.  The  city  water  department  can  easily 
tell  when  the  mains  are  leaking  if  meters  are  used.  Emporia  uses  water 
meters.  Meters  are  good  for  Emporia  because: 

1.  Each  family  uses  all  the  water  it  needs  but  is  careful  about  wast- 
ing it. 

2.  Each  family  pays  for  as  much  water  as  it  uses  and  for  no  more. 

3.  The  people  and  the  water  department  keep  the  pipes,  fixtures  and 
mains  repaired,  so  that  water  will  not  be  wasted. 

A model  meter  was  loaned  to  Dan  Schaffner  by  the  superintendent  of 
the  water  department.  It  was  studied  by  the  class.  A trip  was  made  to 
read  water  meters. 


TEACHING 


31 


^Project:  “To  show  how  Emporia  tries  to  prevent  the  spread  of  con- 
tagious diseases.”  Presented  to  the  class  by  Lois  Maxwell. 

What  I know  about  my  project. 

1.  People  with  a contagious  disease  are  usually  quarantined. 

2.  The  health  officer  puts  the  quarantine  sign  on  the  house. 

3.  Different  colored  signs  are  put  on  the  houses  for  different 

diseases. 

What  I want  to  know  about  my  project. 

1.  What  is  a contagious  disease? 

2.  Is  it  worth  while  to  quarantine? 

3.  How  does  quarantine  keep  disease^  from  spreading? 

4.  What  is  fumigation?  Why  is  it  necessary  after  a person  has 

had  a contagious  disease? 

5.  Of  what  value  is  vaccination? 

6.  How  does  the  health  officer  get  his  position? 

7.  What  part  do  I have  in  preventing  the  spread  of  contagious 

diseases  in  Emporia? 

References  consulted: 

Kansas  State  Board  of  Health,  Bulletins. 

American  Red  Cross,  Elementary  Hygiene  and  Home  Care  of 

the  Sick. 

Discussion  as  given  by  Lois  Maxwell  to  the  class: 

“Contagious  diseases  are  special  diseases  which  are  communicated  be- 
tween persons,  either  by  direct  contact  or  by  means  of  an  intermediate 
agent.”  When  one  member  of  a family  has  a contagious  disease,  other 
members  of  the  family  may  go  among  the  public  and  to  their  place  of 
business  where  they  might  easily  spread  the  disease.  To  prevent  this 
from  happening,  laws  have  been  made.  By  them,  everyone  suffering  from 
a contagious  disease  must  be  quarantined  to  prevent  people  from  visiting 
them  and  to  keep  the  members  of  the  family  from  going  among  the  people. 
It  is  necessary  to  quarantine  houses  in  which  there  is  a contagious  dis- 
ease to  keep  the  disease  from  spreading. 

Fumigation  is  the  process  of  disinfecting  articles  such  as  furniture 
and  clothing  and  things  which  are  apt  to  have  the  disease  germs  on  them. 
Fumigation  must  take  place  after  every  contagious  disease.  Sometimes 
the  whole  house  is  fumigated  and  sometimes  only  the  room  in  which  the 
patient  has  lived. 

The  disinfectants  used  are  chloride  of  lime,  bichloride  of  mercury, 
quicklime  and  carbolic  acid.  Clothes  may  be  disinfected  by  boiling.  Sul- 
phur and  formaldehyde  are  generally  used  for  fumigating. 

Vaccination  makes  us  immune  from  certain  diseases.  We  can  be 
vaccinated  for  smallpox. 

The  duties  of  the  health  officer  of  Emporia  are  many.  He  must 
appoint  a man  to  collect  the  garbage,  a man  to  inspect  the  places  where 
our  food  comes  from.  When  the  health  officer  receives  the  notice  of  a 
contagious  disease  he  must  investigate  the  place  where  the  sick  person 
might  have  gotten  it.  Then  he  must  see  that  the  person  or  family  is 
quarantined.  After  the  person  has  died  or  recovered,  he  should  see 
that  the  premises  are  properly  disinfected.  He  must  keep  a record  of  all 
cases  of  contagious  diseases,  quarantines  and  fumigations  made. 

The  health  officer  gets  his  position  by  being  appointed  by  the  mayor. 
He  does  not  receive  a salary  but  gets  fees  for  various  things  which  he 
does,  as,  for  example,  putting  up  quarantine  signs. 

There  are  many  things  which  we  can  do  to  help  in  preventing  con- 
tagious diseases  in  Emporia. 


32 


TEACHING  

1.  We  should  keep  our  bodies  in  good  healthy  condition  so  that  we 
shall  not  be  so  apt  to  become  sick. 

2.  We  should  observe  all  quarantines. 

3.  We  should  report  any  case  of  sickness  which  might  be  a con- 
tagious disease. 

4.  We  can  have  plenty  of  good  light  and  fresh  air  in  our  rooms. 

5.  We  should  call  a doctor  when  we  are  sick,  and  especially  if  we 
are  broken  out  with  a rash. 

6.  We  should  see  that  our  doors  and  windows  are  screened  so  that 
flies  and  mosquitoes  cannot  get  into  our  houses. 

7.  We  should  not  drink  water  unless  we  know  that  it  is  pure.  If-we 
are  not  certain,  we  should  boil  the  water  at  least  twenty  minutes. 

8.  We  should  not  -buy  milk  unless  we  are  sure  it  comes  from  a dairy 
which  lives  up  to  the'  city  milk  ordinance. 

9.  We  should  not  put  natural  ice  in  our  drinking  water,  for  it  may 
have  germs  in  it.  Freezing  does  not  kill  germs. 

10.  We  should  not  eat  fruit  or  vegetables  before  they  are  cooked, 
unless  they  are  thoroughly  cleaned. 


I 


